


Teddy

by CyrusBreeze



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Genderfluid Teddy Lupin, Hogwarts loves and protects their trans students and that’s canon, I will take every character JKR loves and make them trans I swear, Protect trans kids, Trans Character, Trans Charlie Weasley, also no relationship tags for Harry so imagine him with whoever you want, transgender character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyrusBreeze/pseuds/CyrusBreeze
Summary: Teddy Lupin goes through a lot of changes before their second year of Hogwarts.OrI’m pissed as JKR so I wrote a coming or story for trans Teddy in one night
Comments: 11
Kudos: 82





	Teddy

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’m gonna be upfront and say this isn’t beta’d it’s a hot mess. But I don’t care because trans rights! I’m pissed about JKR’s tweets and I just wanna write about trans folx. 
> 
> Is this story good? You can decide.
> 
> Also, a note, this is very very loosely set in the universe of another fic I wrote, where Lilian Potter is the oldest Potter child but otherwise, there’s no indication of that verse or even who Harry is married to.
> 
> Also, a HUGE shoutout to the amazing OliverWilde who beta'd and edited this fic and also added some really phenomenal stuff. (Like a trans Charlie Weasley). They're phenomenal and much appreciated!
> 
> TW: very very brief mentions of gender dysphoria and transphobia

Teddy Lupin comes out for the first time at the age of twelve. They build a blanket fort with Lilian, and sit under the blanket, eating popcorn and laughing. “Have you ever felt different?” Teddy asks, distracted by the loose thread in the carpet.

Lilian tilts her head in confusion, and Teddy sighs, realizing they'd need to elaborate further. 

“I… I don’t think I’m a boy,” they whisper. 

“So you're a girl then? I’ve always wanted a sister, it'd be cool,” Lilian is curious, Teddy supposes, and so after the breathy sigh of relief they smile, a single tear falling down their cheek. But then they hesitate.

"Well, I'm not a girl either." They bite their bottom lip, "I guess, sometimes I feel like a girl, but then… like it's like I'm not anything sometimes too."

"But not a boy?" She asks, munching on a few kernels of the sweet and salty.

"Err, I suppose sometimes, you know, just not very often, and sometimes I don't really know how I feel and I get confused, but that usually happens when I have to decide how I want to look."

Lilian hums, “So, do people at school know?” 

“Nobody knows,” Teddy shakes their head slowly, then looks up from staring at the chipped toe-polish Lillian applied last week, “You’re actually, the first person I ever told.” 

Lilian nods, smiling, “Have you tried? You know, changing… Which one do you feel like now? Can I see?" Her enthusiasm soothed Teddy and the sheer relief felt like when they had used magic for the very first time. They smile, throwing a few pieces of popcorn in their mouth before hopping up, their hair gently brushing the top of the fort and so they decide to kneel down. 

"I can show you!" Teddy's eyes sparkle, "I only ever tried in the mirror before, I dunno if I look very nice or not."

"I can tell you, but you already look really pretty."

Teddy leaned forward to hug Lillian, "Thank you."

"Sorry, I thought you already knew. Can you show me now?"

"Oh, right!" Teddy scrunches up their face in concentration and feels their hair grow, brushing against their neck. Trying to remember just what they looked like in the mirror, trying to feel that same feeling they get when they're seen how they want to be seen. Still glowing from being called pretty, Teddy opens their eyes, one at a time, slowly.

"You changed your face too!" Lillian sounds amazed, "Can I touch you?"

Teddy nods once, "You can call me a girl now, I'd like that..."

"You're very beautiful. Do I still call you Teddy?" She asked, gently prodding her finger into Teddy's now slightly softer right cheek.

"Err, I haven't really decided, but for now you can." Teddy grins, shifting comfortably. She’s done a lot of research as to what girls her age look like, and she doesn’t think she’s all that beautiful, but Lilian smiles warmly. 

Teddy closes her eyes in concentration again, focussing on short spiky hair, thinner lips and eyebrows. She once again opens her eyes.

"Woah, that is a really cool green!"

Teddy scratches their hair and smiles again, "Thanks, Lil!"

"So, should I call you my sister or my brother or something else?"

Teddy shuffles forward to take her in their arms, "I love you!" they wipe away a stray tear, "Can I just be your sibling?"

"Yeah!" Lily pulls Teddy closer, "I have the best sibling in the world!"

~%~%~%~%~%~

The second person Teddy comes out to is her Grandma. It’s been almost two weeks since she told Lilian. It is already mid-July, and she’s having a day where she feels so strongly and particularly feminine that she hates the corners and edges and tough spots of her body. She changed in the mirror that morning, feeling all the soft spots and revelling in the quiet moment of feeling like herself. When Harry knocks on the door to tell her it was time to go, she puts on a brave face, she shortens her hair and sharpens the lines on her face. She looks in the mirror one last time, "You've got this."

“Hi, Sweetheart!” Andromeda smiles, it looks like it takes a lot of effort.

"Heya, Gran," Teddy smiles back, then takes a deep breath.

“You look very handsome, and so much like your mum.” 

Okay, it is now or never, “I’m not a boy,” she says quickly; in for a Knut in for a Galleon, "Right now, I'm a girl but not all the time."

She smiles warmly at her grandchild, "You're mother felt the same way; told us over and over she was just a kid, not a girl, not a boy, just a kid."

Teddy Gasps, her eyes open wide and she can feel her hair turn a bubblegum shade of pink, "She did?" Why had no one ever told her?

“Was pretty adamant that we call her Tonks too,” Grandma says, reminiscing, “I shouldn't have called her Nymphadora so much," She closes her eyes and is silent for a moment before shaking her head and smiling.

"Gran..."

“I love you so much Teddy, every single bit of you, and there is nothing that could or would ever change that. You're very beautiful when you are who you want to be. Your parents would be so proud of you.” 

"Yeah?" Teddy smiles, and allows her features to soften, it is easier to do when she feels like this; accepted.

"Of course, my dear, I love you very much!"

“I love you too, grandma,” Teddy chokes out, crying, but happier with the weight no longer resting on her shoulders.  
~%~%~%~%~%~

Teddy doesn't mean to come out to the entire Weasley family at once, but they did. It's Harry's birthday party and most of the clan is out playing quidditch but Teddy is too nervous to do too much other than pick at the thread on their jumper. Once everyone is back inside they all gather around where they're sat on the sofa with a few of the younger children, Hugo, jumps up on their lap.

"Ted! Ted!" small arms grab at the lime-green hair falling by Teddy's shoulders.

"Hey Hugh," Teddy smiles, and maneuvers the young Weasley to lay on his lap. 

"You have long hair," the boy states confidently and Teddy's freezes, "Are you a boy or a girl?" As soon as their limbs start to function again, the terror feels like an icy dagger to the chest. Teddy slowly looks up to find all the adults staring at him, and they feel like crying. It has taken too long to respond, everyone would know something is up by now, but the longer Teddy waits, the harder it is to say anything. 

So they don't. 

Teddy takes a deep breath, convincing the tears to stay inside for a minute longer, they stand up, and sit Hugo on the sofa, "I'll be right back," Teddy says, a little higher in pitch than they were expecting, but manages to say it nonetheless. 

Then Teddy makes their way out of the room, slowly at first, then rushing as the tears begin to roll down their cheeks. Why did he have to ask then? And in front of everyone! Teddy closes the door to the bathroom and almost collapses to the floor, but instead manages to sit on the lid of the toilet seat. 

It isn't long before Teddy hears hushed voices just outside, "Charlie, look, I'd really like to handle this, Ted is my kid,"

"But Harry..." there's a short pause, "alright, but tell 'em they can talk to me, yeah? It's not easy."

"I will," and next, Teddy hears the shuffle of feet and a knock on the bathroom door, "It's Harry," the voice calls.

"Occupied," Teddy tries to make their voice steady but it is as shaky as it always was when they cried.

"Can I come in?" Harry asks gently, and Teddy wipes their face with the hand towel by the sink. 

"Yeah," they whisper, half hoping Harry won't hear, but the door opens and Harry squeezes himself inside. 

"Hey, bud," Harry is smiling and waves his wand around them, casting the silencing charms he always does when they talk about important things, "you know I love you right?"

That was it, tears started to flow and Teddy sobbed into their hands.

"Hey, hey, it's alright you know, you don't have to be a boy… I always said you can be anything," Harry kneeled in front of the toilet bowl and rested his hands on Teddy's knees. 

"I'm not… I'm not a boy."

Teddy doesn't look up, just stares into the darkness his palms provided, "So, do you feel like a girl, or something else?" Harry moves Teddy's arms away from their face, to rest in their lap.

Teddy takes a deep breath, "Something else."

Harry just kept smiling as he wiped the tears away with his thumb, he doesn't say anything and so Teddy decides to keep going, "I feel like a girl sometimes, but most of the time I don't feel like either, when I feel like a boy it is nice but it doesn't feel that way most of the time..."

"And how do you feel today?" Harry matches the quiet voice Teddy spoke in.

"I feel like neither, and like I don't want to think about it."

"That's okay, you don't have to think about it if you don't want to."

"Everyone's out there," Teddy whispers, scared, "I can't go out there again."

"They are all out there and that is okay, they love you too."

"They'll hate me."

It looks like Harry almost laughs, "of course they won't!" he turns around at the door dramatically then leans closer to Teddy, whispering, "Did you want to know something; something that might let you be sure that they won't hate you?"

Teddy rolls their eyes at the theatrics but nods anyway.

"Your Uncle Charlie was born Charlette, and everyone thought he was a girl until he was a little older than you are now, it took awhile for everyone to get things right, and stop calling him she and her but now..." Harry shakes his head, still smiling, "can you imagine anyone trying to call Charlie a girl?"

"No, I didn't know."

"Well I think a lot of the time he'd rather just be known for who he is now, not who he was as a kid, but he told me you're more than welcome to talk to him about anything."

Teddy smiles wide and pulls Harry up for a hug. Harry loved them, and the Weasleys would too, what better news could there be? "Thank you!" Teddy says into Harry's shoulder, "I love you so much!"

"I love you too my… child?" Harry hesitates and Teddy just hugs tighter.  
"Child is good."  
~%~%~%~%~%~  
After Teddy had answered Hugo's question in front of everyone in the house, the only one that hadn't heard was George, who was too busy going through his old room to find Fred's old badges. Once Teddy told him he likes to be called different things at different times, George transfigured them to read: 'she', 'he' and 'they.' Fred would love for Teddy to get use out of them, he had said.

The following day, Harry shuffles him out the door, both of them nice clothes, to see Teddy's parents.

“Hey Mum and Dad,” Teddy says, “I have something to tell you. I'd like to think that you already know, and that if you don't know, that you think it cool, because it can be… I get to change my hair all the time and Harry says that he'll take me shopping for clothes later today. He said you'd be proud of me...” Teddy's eyes water, "Sorry. I wanted to keep it together a bit more," Teddy sighs and sits down, picking up a blade of grass to twirl and pick at.

"I'm genderfluid. I'm not always a boy or a girl or both or neither, I change and even though it feels weird and confusing a lot of the time, it feels like me, which is really, really good.

"I really wish you were here to tell me how you feel, but Harry, the Weasleys, and Grandma all say you'd be proud of me, and I hope that is true. I'm proud of me too, it was scary but it feels nice now, I feel like I could do anything.  
"I'm sorry I don't come talk to you very often but I hope you hear me even when I'm not here, Harry says I can come back again before term starts so I'll get to show you my new clothes… I love you both, and I - I miss you too."

~%~%~%~%~%~

Teddy Remus Lupin starts their second year at Hogwarts with yellow and black painted nails, a skirt, new makeup, Fred's pronoun pins, and permission from the Headmistress to punch anybody that makes fun of any of it. 

It feels good. Walking into the Great Hall and finally feeling free, it is like being able to breathe properly for the first time, feeling like themselves and surrounded by mgic. Teddy can't help but smile.

Once the feast is over and the four houses are being led to their dorms, Teddy feels the butterflies in their stomach. They're terrified. They're lagging behind the rest of the group so when Teddy enters the portrait hole all they notice is the crowd of Hufflepuffs chatting and whispering excitedly.

“What is it?” Teddy asks, taking a breath and trying to push through the crowd. 

“There’s a new door,” someone says, and Teddy can finally see. Between the two staircases leading to the male, and female dorms is a third.

“It’s for Teddy,” says the same voice.

"What! I want my own room!" one of the first years says.

“That's so cool!” Says another voice that Teddy recognises from their own year group, "Hey Ted, can I bunk with you?"

Teddy’s hair changes colors rapidly, switching from yellow to blue to pink and back again as they stare at the door, aware of everyone’s eyes on them. They don't want everyone looking at them. They don't want the attention, it's too much.

Then, someone stands between Teddy and the crowd, “Alright, alright, I know everyone’s excited about the sorting and everything else tonight, but we still have a curfew, so time for bed everyone,” Roderick, their prefect. 

The other kids whine a bit but they comply, leaving upstairs, while they all make their way upstairs, Teddy sits down on one of the bean bags, a bit nervous about going into their room just yet.

“C’mon,” Roderick smiles, “Let’s explore,” Teddy looks up from fiddling with the pleat on their skirt. The common-room is empty besides them, the sounds of the still chattering students still permeating the room though. Teddy smiles and takes Roderick's offered hand.

They climb the stairs and Teddy sighs with relief when they hold for Roderick too. The butterflies fade and excitement begins to take over. Roderick opens the door for them, and it is perfect. It’s a small room, about as big as the room they have at home. The trunk rests at the foot of the bed, and when Teddy opens up the closet they find a brand new set of formal witches' robes to pair with the Wizard ones in their trunk. Teddy finally stops running about the room, exploring every nook and cranny, and so Roderick bids him a quiet adieu.

The castle knew. The castle knows. The castle understands them. 

This, the castle that felt like home from the moment Teddy walked through the doors. And now, the castle really feels like home, its arms open wide to let Teddy, the real Teddy into a world of unconditional love and acceptance.

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, I wrote this in one night. Sue me. I might expand but I prolly won’t. Please leave a comment. I’ll love you forever and ever


End file.
